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The term “black boxes” conjures up images of plane crashes for some and inspires conspiracy theories for others. For the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA), the automotive black box became a key source of impartial information in the unintended acceleration controversy focused on Toyota vehicles.

That’s partly why Congress now seems set on passing legislation that would make an Electronic Data Recorder (EDR) – the technical name for an automotive black box – required equipment on all new cars. And lawmakers also want to settle who owns the data on the devices, although that issue won't be nearly as cut-and-dried.

Bill 1813 that mandates EDRs for every car sold in the U.S. starting with the model year 2015 has already passed the Senate. The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to pass a version of the bill with slightly different language. Car and Driver calls the wording of the bills “pretty vague” and notes that the Senate version stipulates that EDRs only “capture and store data related to motor vehicle safety,” and that access to the EDR’s information is only through an “interoperable data access port.”

“The EDRs became a vital piece of information for us to understand exactly what was happening in certain crashes and scenarios,” NHTSA Deputy Administrator Ronald Medford told Wired. “So the Congress, in our discussion with them, were very strongly encouraging us to require it. And we’re sort of surprised that we’re not requiring for everyone. The current regulation says that if you have an EDR in your car you must at a minimum collect a certain amount of information,” Medford added. “[The new law] would take out the option and say that all car manufacturers must have an EDR and must collect this information. I think 80 percent of the car industry already does it.”

According to Jim Harris, owner of Harris Technical Services in Miami, a firm that accesses and analyzes EDR data, almost all domestic vehicles contain EDRs that are accessible, along with their data via specialized software. A handful of Asian automakers include the devices and allow data to be accessed, but few European makers do. “There are cars that we know have EDRs and we can’t download the information because we don’t have the software,” Harris says. “And there are those that have them, but we don’t know for certain whether they do because the automaker doesn’t reveal the location or make the software available.”

The feds have been slowly inching towards a blanket policy covering automotive black box mandates for the past half decade. Since 2006, NHTSA has required that consumers be informed when an automaker has installed an EDR in a vehicle, although the disclosure is typically buried on the car's owner’s manual. More recently, NHTSA mandated that vehicles manufactured after September 1, 2011 that include the devices must record a minimum of 13 data points in a standardized format.

Black boxes started out as a way for automakers to learn more about how air bags react in a crash. “In general, the better data we have about crashes, the more we know about the risks drivers face on the road and how to improve safety,” Ford spokesman Wes Sherwood told Wired. Automakers also use EDR data to track manufacturing defects and issue recalls.

There's also concerned that EDRs can be used to spy on drivers, although black boxes can’t tell who was driving, whether they were drunk or using a cell phone or who they were with. In addition to date and time, black boxes can currently only record the vehicle and engine speed, steering angle, throttle position, braking status, force of impact, seatbelt status, and air bag deployment.

Jim Harris pointed out that the data from a car’s EDR is only one part of the puzzle in a crash. “EDR data doesn’t stand alone,” he said. “We’ve found data records that did not match the physical evidence in a crash – not even close.” Other mitigating factors have to be taken into account along with EDR data, he says.

One of the most significant aspects of the pending legislation is that it would make clear who owns the data: the car owner or lessee. Well, at least until it passes and lawyers and insurance companies start parsing it. “The owner of the vehicle should be in control of the data,” said Paul Stephens, director or policy and advocacy for the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. “And [law enforcement] would need a subpoena, just as you can’t go into someone’s house and grab evidence. But everything is subject to judicial procedure and it’s always possible to get a subpoena to get that information.”

Plus, the Senate bill makes it possible for first responders such as police, paramedics and firefighters to also have access to the data without a court order if it aids them in an emergency situation. Harris also noted that EDR data can quickly change hands in an accident. “If a car is in a crash and deemed a total loss by an insurance company, the insurer now owns the vehicle,” he said. “And the insurance company can access the data on the EDR can and possibly use it in legal proceedings against the former owner.”